Poisonous Snake Bites the Badger PV Burnett

Jack trudged along through the hallways, contemplating whether or not the weather might have been pleasant enough to go sit in a tree outside and read, when he heard the rapid thud of running footfalls. He paused, ready to dodge, evade, or otherwise side-step out of the runner's way, when he heard the person stop. He looked around, attempting to find the source of the sound and the one responsible for nearly giving him a heart attack, but didn't see anyone who could have been the culprit until he rounded the next corner.

There, sitting on the ground next to a wall, was a girl with a letter in her hand. Jack had seen her around school here and there before, but it wasn't until she had joined the M.M.M. Club (affectionally dubbed 'the Mudblood Club' by the Slytherin) and Wren had requested that she be made Vice President that he had given her much thought at all. He supposed he should have thought to get to know her a little better before awarding her the position, but as he couldn't really have been bothered too much with club formalities, he'd simply written her name in the records and decided to assess the matter properly at a later date.

Now seemed as good a time as any except for two things. One, by the appearance of her clothing, she appeared to belong to the Hufflepuff house. The redhead was very careful to avoid badgers whenever he could for his own personal reasons. Two, the young girl appeared to be crying. How was he supposed to deal with that? For once, it wasn't even his fault, but if he tried to meddle in her business, the chances were high that he could get blamed for her tears anyway or even worsen the situation.

Still...he couldn't just ignore her. Despite his instincts warning him to leave her be, Jack couldn't help the natural curiosity that seemed to sprout in him at the encouragement of every new face he saw. Why was her hair white? Why had Wren asked her to be made vice president? Why had she even wanted to join their club in the first place? What was written in her letter?

If nothing else, it didn't take a genius to deduce that its contents were very likely the cause of her distress. Jack took a deep sigh, stepped up to the weeping badger, and tried not to think about how he would probably regret asking the actual question that he gave voice to.

"Hey. Moonstar, right?" He asked, his voice serious and quiet. Hazel eyes peered down at her inquisitively, his expression largely neutral. "What's the matter? Are you hurt?"

@May Moonstar

@Jack Burnett

""Are you hurt?" May looked up and saw a Slytherin boy that seemed familiar. She remembered him from the Muggleborns club, and she didn't despite him. She had only met him once!
But she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now.
"No" May said sharply. Why did she had to cry right now?
"I'm not even crying," May lied, quickly wiping up her tears. Really? Why did he had to be so nice? Tho his face showed nothing. He seemed to not have any pity on her.

"Better go to class Burnett, or you'll have detention I'm sure..." she looked up, and crossed her arms with a frown.
Holy, why am I so mean? May thought. She was never like this. She was having a headache. That's it. She was just having a headache and she was being mean. That was normal, right?

"What. You tried to do the Muddbloods club just humiliate us Muggleborns? Ah, yes. I just remembered. You are a Muggleborn. Nothing to worry about. Almost dinner time." May said. Why did she said dinner?

Being in this humor could take May to detention. But she didn't know that. What if she was about to make...a enemy?

"I'm not even crying."

The redhead blinked rapidly, taken aback by the blatent lie. It was one thing to tell him she wasn't hurt, since he hadn't been very specific with the question and could have meant physically, emotionally, psychologically, or otherwise. But Why had she felt the need to just...lie to his face? It wasn't as though he was blind or deaf. He could clearly see what was right in front of him.

"...Are you being sarcastic?" he asked, raising a brow in disdain. "Or did you seriously think I'd believe that? Oh, or maybe you're doing that thing where you figure if you say something, you'll be able to convince yourself it's true. That it?" The Slytherin crossed his arms over his chest, casting the girl a rather unimpressed look.

At the encouragement to go to class, Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right...like I could just go to class and leave someone crying in the hallway. Slytherins might not be as sickeningly friendly as Hufflepuffs, but we're not entirely heartless, either." Uncrossing his arms, he crouched down to meet May at eye-level where she sat on the floor.

"It wasn't for humiliation. I thought you knew that when you signed up," he answered patiently, not seeming to mind the other girl's attitude. "Anyway, stop trying to change the subject. What've you got there?" He nodded toward the letter still in the girl's hand. "You wanna tell me what's going on? Or would you rather just show that to me?"

@May Moonstar

@Jack Burnett

"I'm not being sarcastic or anything," May said quickly. "Well, I've met quite a few evil Slytherins that are heartless and at this moment, I wish you were like them, so that you would leave me alone."
No, that wasn't right. She was the one being heartless at the moment, to someone that was trying to help.

"Well, I won't lie. I'm friends with Wren Caster, so it was quite fun...but I don't know you or anything so I don't mind what I say at the moment." May said, and stranded up. She had barely talked to the Burnett guy.

When he nodded towards the letter, May immediately hid it behind her back. "Nothing," she said, quickly "and even if there is something behind my back, in my hand, it's none of your business."

May was begginging to feel quite angry at him.
How could he just ask what the letter said! Or what it was anyways.

"I'm sure you have better things to do than just ask me about my things. You know, I really hate you already."

No! May was going too far. Why did she had to say I hate you?.

May didn't know how to say sorry. Sometimes, she could be so terribly arrogant.

The English girl's response regarding evil Slytherins earned a half-lidded look of incredulity from the Welsh boy.

"I refuse to believe there's such a thing as an evil person," Jack replied matter-of-factly. "Just because they may seem that way to you doesn't mean they don't have their reasons for behaving the way they do. Don't be narrow-minded."

His mouth twisted at her comment about wishing he was 'like them' so that he would leave her alone. He had half a mind to shrug, get up, and go, since she had at least stopped crying enough to talk to him and apparently wasn't so distressed that she couldn't insult his house. However, her follow-up comment on being friends with Wren Caster gave him pause.

He held up one finger. ""One - you just said 'I won't lie', but you already lied, so that makes two lies from you since the minute I stopped to listen to you."

A second finger went up next to the first. ""Two - are you telling me you joined our club just because you're friends with Caster and because you thought it'd be fun?" Jack stared. "No other reason whatsoever...?"

A third and final finger joined the first two shortly after. ""Three - Weird that you don't mind what you say in front of people you don't know and yet you do mind in front of people familiar to you. Anyway, that's how I prefer it because I like people to be honest, so I'm glad you don't mind what you say."

He stood up when she did, again attempting to remain at eye-level with her so as to politely keep eye-contact as they conversed. Her words weren't really making sense to him, and though few Hufflepuffs' did, Jack decided to give May the benefit of the doubt and blame her nonsensical method of communication on emotional impairment for the time being. Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath so as to calm down some. Then he opened his eyes again before attempting to speak to the other student once more.

"Look," he told her. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I just thought I'd offer to listen in case it might have helped somehow. Not sure how that warrents me being hated by you, but you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way."

Readjusting the strap of his bookbag on his shoulder, Jack turned to continue on his way down the corridor. No good deed went unpunished, he supposed. That was what he got for trying to do something honestly nice every now and then; especially for a Hufflepuff. He should have known better.

Well, at the very least, he seemed to have stopped her tears; even if only temporarily.

@May Moonstar

@Jack Burnett

"I'm not narrow minded." May said, defending herself. Was she narrow minded? Did that even make sense? Well, to me it did, but to May it didn't.

"I lied because I have to sometimes." May said, her cheeks turning red at his words. She had lied quite a lot to him, and she was sure he didn't like it, but he was just being...evil. Even if he didn't like it, or if he had just said that there was not such thing as a evil person.

"I mean, Wren is my friend, but I would like to guide Witches and Wizards into the Muggle world...or just teach them about it." May said, turning each time more red. Why did she mentioned the Muggle born club?

"I-I mind what I say...." May said, and she was now literally burning of anger. Why did he have to say all of this? Why did she started it?

"FINE! Just take a deep breath, calm down.... AND GET OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I JINX YOU!" May shouted, unable to control her anger. She only knew a few spells, but she really wanted to curse him at that moment. She wanted to at least take out her wand and threaten him or something. But she couldn't.

"I'm not narrow minded."

"That's what a narrow-minded person would say. Because they wouldn't realize they're being narrow-minded," Jack answered in a dull tone, hardly bothering to glance back as he quickly bored of the situation. "Saying that you think you have to lie just proves my point. No one ever has to do anything. We always have a choice." Wonderful... He was beginning to think he had stumbled across another of several crazy students, making a mental note in his head. So far, he'd met a Gryffindor one, a Ravenclaw, a Slytherin...and, well, now he'd met a Hufflepuff version, too. How quaint.

He sighed when she said she minded what she said, contradicting what she had just told him a couple of minutes earlier about 'not minding what she said at the moment'. Perhaps she literally had meant 'at that moment', but regardless, that didn't make her any less of a liar or a lunatic. Maybe her last name was 'Moonstar' for a reason.

"I don't know why you're telling me to get out of your way when I'm already heading out," Jack called, his voice echoing down the corridor as he continued to walk further from the Hufflepuff, not even deeming her another look back as he spoke. It no longer seemed to matter if she heard him or didn't, anyway.

@May Moonstar

Jack leaves the thread unless stopped.

"Well, it seems that YOU are being narrow minded! You don't know what's happening to me! I'm having family problems, and you are just enjoying this quarrel! You know what?! You better read this letter! That will show you that you are being narrow minded. Because if not, you wouldn't have just gone away, like you just did right now!!!" May was shouting. Not only to Jack. She was shouting to her family, even tho they weren't there. They were also narrow minded, and selfish. They didn't understand that they had stopped talking to her. Four years had passed, and May didn't have heard a word of them, and they had now sent her a letter, to make her sad.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm not ok. I don't think we will be friends, ever. but at least understand, that I'm not ok. That...that I'm passing through a hard time. Don't think we are friends! I just wanted you to know." May said, crying. Again. She handed the letter to Burnett, picked up her things, and runned away. He seemed to be quite a devil.
The Welsh boy was leaving afterwards, May saw, as she looked back. She didn't want to know anything about him anymore. She didn't want him to be his friend, because, yes. She was narrow minded.

MAY leaves the thread.